Highlights of 2010-11 budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament Friday:

– Clean energy cess of Rs.50 per tonne on coal produced in India

– Concessional duty of 4 percent for solar power rickshaw developed by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research

– Concessional customs duty of 5 percent for cable TV operators for importing equipment

– Toys fully exempt from central excise duty

– Service sector tax retained at 10 percent to aid the introduction of GST; more services to be taxed

– Accredited news agencies exempt from service tax

– Net revenue gain Rs.22,500 crore

– Taxes on large cars and SUVs increased 2 percent to 22 percent

– Basic duty of 5 percent on crude oil restored

– Tax on cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco increased

– Rs. 26,000 crore revenue loss due to reduction of direct taxes

– Partial roll back of reduction in central excise duty

– Income up to Rs.1.6 lakh per year exempt from income tax; up to Rs.5 lakh to be taxed at 10 percent; income of Rs.5-8 lakh to be taxed at 20 percent and income above Rs.8 lakh to be taxed at 30 percent

– IT returns forms for individual tax payers to be further simplified

– Expenditure in 2010-11 estimated at 11,l8,749 crore

– Fiscal deficit estimated at 5.5 percent in 2010-11; an improvement of 1 percent over 2009-10

– Two more centralised tax processing centres to be set up in addition to the one at Bangalore

– National Social Security Fund created for workers in unorganised sector with allocation of Rs.1,000 crore

– Government to give Rs.1,000 for each National Pension Scheme account opened by workers in the unorganised sector

– Exclusive skill development programme for the textile sector

– Fifty percent hike in allocation for schemes for women and child development

– Rs.4,500 crore allocated for ministry of social justice and empowerment, a hike of 80 percent

– Rs.2,600 crore allocated for ministry of minorities affairs

– Rs.1,900 crore for Unique Identification Authority of India

– Rs.147,344 crore allocated for defence

– 2,000 youth to be recruited in central paramilitary forces

– Draft Food Security Bill prepared and will be put in the public domain

– Allocation on primary education raised from Rs.26,800 crore to Rs.31,300 crore

– Banking facilities to be provided to all habitations with a population of 2,000 and more

– Rs.66,100 crore allocated for rural development in 2010-11; Rs.40,100 crore for National Rural Employment Scheme; RS.48,000 crore for Bharat Nirman

– Rs.1,270 crore allocated for Rajiv Awas Yojana for slum dwellers, up from Rs.150 crore, an increase of 700 percent with the aim of creating a slum free India.

– Forty-six percent of plan allocations in 2010-11 will be for infrastructure development

– Coal Regulatory Authority to be set up to benchmark standards of performance

– Allocation for new and renewable energy sector increased 61 percent from Rs.620 crore to Rs.1,000 crore in 2010-11

– National Clean Energy Fund to be established

– Rs.200 crore allocated as special package for Goa to prevent erosion and increase green cover

– Government committed to growth of SEZs

– Four-pronged strategy for growth of agricultural sector

– Rs.200 crore to be provided in 2010-11 for climate-resilient agricultural initiative

– Involvement of private sector in grain storage to continue for another two years

– In view of drought and floods, debt repayment period extended to June 2010

– Five more mega food processing projects in addition to 10 existing ones

– FDI flows in April-December 2009 $20.9 billion

– FDI policy to be made more user-friendly with one comprehensive document

– Apex level financial stability council to be set up for banking sector

– Indian Banking Association to give additional licences to private players

– Provision for further capital for regional rural banks

– Roadmap for reducing public debt in six months

– Implementation of direct tax code from April 2011

– Government actively engaged in finalising structure of general sales tax regime; hopes to implement it from April 2011

– New fertiliser policy from April 2010; will lead to improved productively and more income for farmers

– Economy stabilised in first quarter of 2009-10; strong rebound in second quarter; overall growth at 7.2 and could be higher when Q3 and Q4 are taken into account

– Export figures for January encouraging

– Hope to breach 10 percent growth mark in not too distant future

– Government set in motion steps to bring down food inflation

– Need to review stimulus package; need to make growth more broad-based

– India has weathered global economic crisis well; Indian economy in far better position than it was a year ago. In 2009 Indian economy faced grave uncertainty; delay in southwest monsoon had undermined agricultural production

– First challenge now is to quickly revert to 9 percent growth and then aim for double digit growth; need to make recovery more broadbased

– Second challenge is to make growth more inclusive; have to strengthen food security

– Third challenge is to overcome weakness in government’s public delivery mechanism; a long way to go in this

The job crunch in the market due to economic slowdown and the revised pay-scales have again encouraged youngsters to join the armed forces. In the past one week about 1,000 students have turned up seeking jobs in the Indian Army for technical posts during a recruitment drive in five city-based engineering colleges under the scheme University Entry Level.

Aporve Joshi, a third semester student, who appeared in an interview said, “In the midst of recession no other sector offers a job with good salary, job security and honor.” He feels that, “once you have joined the defence services you become immune to any financial crises at macro or micro level.”

The army officials say they have received an overwhelming response as the number of students appearing in the orientation programme increased manifold compared to other years.

“The Sixth Pay Commission, which raised the armed forces salaries have made this profession a most-sought-after among the students this year,” said Col VS Gill, member of a team to shortlist candidates for SSB final interview.

When asked, do you think that ill effects of recession on corporate and Sixth Pay Commission will encourage the students to join army, he replied “Certainly yes, the armed forces offer better future prospects then any other profession.”

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The job crunch in the market due to economic slowdown and the revised pay-scales have again encouraged youngsters to join the armed forces. In the past one week about 1,000 students have turned up seeking jobs in the Indian Army for technical posts during a recruitment drive in five city-based engineering colleges under the scheme University Entry Level.

Aporve Joshi, a third semester student, who appeared in an interview said, “In the midst of recession no other sector offers a job with good salary, job security and honor.” He feels that, “once you have joined the defence services you become immune to any financial crises at macro or micro level.”

The army officials say they have received an overwhelming response as the number of students appearing in the orientation programme increased manifold compared to other years.

“The Sixth Pay Commission, which raised the armed forces salaries have made this profession a most-sought-after among the students this year,” said Col VS Gill, member of a team to shortlist candidates for SSB final interview.

When asked, do you think that ill effects of recession on corporate and Sixth Pay Commission will encourage the students to join army, he replied “Certainly yes, the armed forces offer better future prospects then any other profession.”

Read More Here : Source